New Entering Class Sets Records for Quality and Diversity

In August the College of Law welcomed one of the most talented and diverse classes in its history. The 114 matriculating students came from a pool of 948 applicants. The new 1L students brought with them a median LSAT score of 156 (the 66th national percentile), which is believed to be the highest ever recorded at the College of Law. (In fact, the College’s 25th percentile LSAT score of 153 is equal to the class median just three years ago!) The entering class also brings a median undergraduate grade point average of 3.39. Notably, women comprise 40% of the class, and minority students represent 16% (another record figure). Students qualifying as Idaho residents constitute 60% of the entering class, demonstrating the College’s ongoing success in attracting many of the state’s best and brightest.

Professionalism and Ethics Underscore First Day in Law School

Building upon the success of an inaugural program in 2003, the College of Law made ethics and professionalism the dominant theme of the first day in law school for the 2004 entering class. The new students quickly found themselves face to face with five state and federal judges from Idaho’s trial and appellate courts, together with 24 practitioners (including six former Bar presidents) from all regions of the state. These distinguished members of the bench and bar donated their time to a program featuring small-group discussions of factual scenarios designed to elicit thoughtfulness and introspection on such topics as civility, truthfulness, and fairness in litigation; fiduciary obligations to clients; reasonableness of attorney fees; conflicts of interest; the duties of lawyers for organizations; and pro bono service for the poor. The first-day professionalism program, a joint undertaking of the College of Law and the Idaho State Bar Section on Professionalism and Ethics, is becoming one of the “signature” events in Idaho legal education. Further information is available from Lee Dillion, Law Instructor and Director of Outreach Programs, at dillion@uidaho.edu.

College Welcomes New Director of Admissions/Student Services

Stephen M. Perez has joined the College of Law as the new Director of Admissions and Student Services. A native Texan, Mr. Perez received his J.D. degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 2004. While in law school, he was active as a recruiter and admissions counselor, serving as Chair of the Student Recruitment and Orientation Committee. Mr. Perez was a member of the second-year interscholastic mock trial team and an officer with the Chicano/Hispanic Law Students Association. He also worked as a law clerk for an Austin firm specializing in school law, and he spent a semester at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Mr. Perez succeeds Erick Larson, who left after a very successful four-year term as Director.

Visiting Faculty Enrich the Law School Community

Two visiting associate professors with diverse backgrounds have joined the full-time law faculty for academic year 2004-05.

Raul M. Sanchez is a graduate of the Harvard Law School, with a masters degree from Stanford and a baccalaureate degree from Princeton. He practiced with the firm of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett in New York before joining the faculty of St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, where he was Director of the Inter-American Legal Studies Program. From 2000 to the current year, he served as the University of Idaho’s Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Human Rights, and he provided adjunct instruction at the College of Law. This year he will teach courses in real estate finance, employment law, civil rights, and international business transactions.

Malla Pollack is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York, with a masters degree from the City University of New York and a baccalaureate degree from the State University of New York at Albany. She clerked for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg when Justice Ginsburg was a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Professor Pollack was a Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago, and she practiced with the firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago. She recently served as a visiting law faculty member at the University of Oregon. She will teach both sections of the year-long course in torts along with an intellectual property seminar.